I am always curious as to what words mean. I love looking up words in the dictionary and in the thesaurus. And today is no different. Today I wanted to know exactly what the dictionary said about “productivity”. And here is what it said:

A measure of the efficiency of a person, machine, factory, system, etc., in converting inputs into useful outputs.

Productivity is computed by dividing average output per period by the total costs incurred or resources (capital, energy, material, personnel) consumed in that period. Productivity is a critical determinant of cost efficiency.

Converting inputs into useful outputs.

As a business owner, are you converting your inputs into useful outputs? Is what you are doing (your input) resulting in useful outputs? Is it resulting in you getting what it is you want? Or are you doing things yet never really see any results?

Let’s look at a few inputs when it comes to time, shall we:

Going to networking events

One-on-one meetings talking about your business

On social media

Creating content

Various other marketing activities

If you are getting the results you want, then your inputs are equaling a useful output. But what if they aren’t? Then what?

Tips to get the outputs you desire.

There are many ways to be productive and get the output from the input you put in. Here are several ways for you to do that:

Determine what your outcome is. What is it you want out of your input? Do you want more income, a bigger customer base, more customers?

Brainstorm what steps will more than likely, equal those results. Do you need to talk to more people, speak at events, ask people to sign up to your mailing list?

Create benchmarks. In order to be productive, you need to know what you are doing. If you want to talk to more people, how many more people, by when will you talk with them, what will you talk with them about, etc. In other words, you need to measure your productivity.

Set aside time to review your results often. In order to know if your inputs are leading to useful outputs you need to review where you are, what needs to happen to get to where you are going and what changes, if any, need to be made.

Get Your FREE Client Atraction Forumla now and know exactly where your clients are, what to do to get them to you so that you grow your business and make more money while doing amazing work and working with awesome clients!

Thank you for joining the Client Attraction Formula! Check your email for your Welcome and Next Steps message from me because that is going to have all of the information you need to get set up for your Client Attraction Formula.

Do you often find yourself running around looking for items that you swear were there just a moment ago?

Are you constantly trying to remember where something is only to feel frustrated that it’s not where you thought it was?

The Solution To Stop Wasting Time Looking For Things.

Create a landing space for your items. Your items will always be found, exactly where they are suppose to be. And you’ll never have to search for a lost item again.

Now, doesn’t that sound nice? I know it does to me! Furthermore, once you have a designated place for your items to be, you will stop wasting your precious time running around looking for them.

One of the things that people often come to me for is help in getting more productive. My first question to them is how often do they spend time looking for things. If I hear them tell me “all of the time”, I know one of the reasons they aren’t productive.

Determine Where You Need The Most Help First.

Here are a few steps to get you started.

Determine what item (or items) seem to go missing most often. If you tend to lose a lot of things, start with one or two items first.

Determine where would be the place you think you’d know to look first. If it is your keys (been there, done that =)would a place near the door that you use most often to exit be a good place to put them?

Clear out space and declare this is where my stuff goes. After you figure out your item(s) and the place they will go, create a space for it. You may need to put hang up hooks or get a bowl or tray for your items. Whatever you feel would work, do it.

Breathe a sign of relief because your racing around and wasting time days searching for things are over! With your system of having a place for things and things in their place, you’ll never have to say “I have no idea where my stuff is.” And you’ll never have to utter “Honey, have you seen my stuff?” Now, that’s a beautiful thing!

Be On The Look Out For What’s Next.

As you were reading, you probably realized ok, but what about the other things that come to me. Things such as mail, emails, texts, social media notifications and requests from others, to name some.

You will need a system for that and I’ll be covering that in future blogs. So for now, be on the look out for the type of things that come to you and what you currently do with them.

Like I said, I help a lot of people with becoming more productive. I also help them collect, assess/analyze, leverage their time and manage their stuff. I call it the CALM System. If you would like help learning some high value productivity actions, that can bring more calm into your life I can help you do that! Schedule your 30-minute complimentary Productive Planning For Success Strategy Session now.

Get Your FREE Client Atraction Forumla now and know exactly where your clients are, what to do to get them to you so that you grow your business and make more money while doing amazing work and working with awesome clients!

Thank you for joining the Client Attraction Formula! Check your email for your Welcome and Next Steps message from me because that is going to have all of the information you need to get set up for your Client Attraction Formula.

It’s a sad fact that a lot of business owners and entrepreneurs jeopardize their success.

Honestly, it’s not hard to do. What with all of the things that have to happen to first start a business, then be successful at it.

Recently I wrote an article that I published on Medium. It was a pretty popular article. So many people highlighted parts of it and commented on it. One man wrote:

“What I came to notice, though, in my own search for improving (or establishing at all) productivity is that prioritizing my tasks and planning for the day A) rarely works out; and B) can quickly overwhelm me. The former, I guess, is rooted strongly in being a freelancer. But the latter I think is something a lot of people can maybe relate to.”

And what he said got me to thinking.

To Be Productive, You Have To Be Yourself.

See, if you are truly to be productive you have to be yourself. I can tell you to do this or that but if it doesn’t fit for you, you won’t be successful with it. And I want you to be successful. I want you to be super successful!

So while my article gave the how to be productive and while many people liked it and are trying it, what if it doesn’t work for you?

Well first, go read it to see if it won’t work for you. And if you find it won’t, then we’re in business! If it does, then, we’re in business! The beauty is you will be aware of how to be you! Either way you’ll be productive.

Get Results, Your Way.

No, we aren’t talking Burger King. Well, yes, actually we are.

You can have your productivity YOUR way! And that said, in order to do that you still need to take some steps.

Decide what it is you want for results. While I’m all for being in a flow and just going about taking actions, if you aren’t taking specific actions on a specific goal, forget about it. You will never get anywhere. And you do want to get somewhere don’t you? Yes, I know you do!

Determine what you need to do to get your results. Like the photo in this article, if you are here, there and everywhere you’ll get nowhere. Clearly determine your action steps that you will take to reach your end results.

Make a list of all your actions. This is valuable because you can pick and choose from your list and do things as you feel appropriate and that fits into your energy for the day. It gives you the opportunity to be you and just go with the flow yet still be productive.

Create a timeline. By being clear about by when you want to have your results you will be able to have a feeling of free flowing yet you’ll be moving things along at a pace that feels good to you and with an anchor that will help keep you on target.

Tips For Not Jeopardizing Your Productivity.

Now that you know what it is you want, how you’ll get it and know how and when it will happen, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:

Allow for white space in your day. My reader mentioned that planning rarely works out and he’s correct (for the most part). Things do happen. And things do work out. When you give yourself space during your day, rather than jam pack it thinking you will be productive but rarely are, you give yourself freedom to be in the flow of whatever happens to happen during your day.

Give yourself permission to be who you are and work how you work. A lot of people will read my article and go I need to do that in order to be productive (and I’m not going to say no that isn’t true, because it is true for a lot of people) but if you are like my reader and are a go with the flow person, then give yourself permission to do that.

Remember it’s how you look at productivity that will have you being productive. Kind of like the saying “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”.

You Are Your Best Expert.

Let’s face it, YOU are your best expert. I can give you all the advice, suggestions, tips, tools, etc. in the world yet if they don’t fit you they are useless. If you are having a hard time being you, another article I wrote can help you with that. You can read it here.

My suggestion to you (if you are willing to take it =-) is to allow yourself to be you. Work the way you know feels good to you. As long as you are getting things done, are being productive for how you define productivity and are seeing results, there isn’t anything wrong with what you are doing.

If however, you feel your go with the flow ways are not benefiting you and you feel you aren’t getting the results you want because of it, learning a few high value productivity actions will always help you.

The good news is that it isn’t hard and it doesn’t take long to learn to be productive, it just takes the desire to learn to do it.

Get Your FREE Client Atraction Forumla now and know exactly where your clients are, what to do to get them to you so that you grow your business and make more money while doing amazing work and working with awesome clients!

Thank you for joining the Client Attraction Formula! Check your email for your Welcome and Next Steps message from me because that is going to have all of the information you need to get set up for your Client Attraction Formula.

I say this a lot. And it’s so true. Yet, there are a lot of people out there who do not take responsibility for what they want and blame others because they don’t have it.

I hope that isn’t you. Though if it is and you are resonating with what you just read, have no fear. As of this moment, you can change it. You can have your life be different and you can truly be the boss of you.

Be YOUR Difference.

If you are willing to take on the mindset of “If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me”, here is what I would like you to know:

Create Your Absolute List.

What do you want in your life that you don’t have now?

Create a list of what you absolutely want to have in your life. Take a look at your list and ask yourself what your top 3 items on it are. Put this list in a prominent place in your life, these will be your target goals. Without a target to focus on, you’ll never have any direction and you will never get there.

These will be the goals that you will work on, take regular actions on and move forward on regularly to see results.

Eyes on the Prize.

In order to be the difference and reach the successes that you want in your business and in your life you must stay on target. Having laid out that target by creating your absolute list, you now have a starting spot. Here are some things to help you stay on target:

Create an action items list. This list will contain everything you will do to reach your goal.

Create your timeline. This will be your beginning and end dates and the actions you will do in the middle that move your toward your end result.

Bring in support. This can be anyone who you think will help you, family, friends, a professional, etc.

Be accountable. Lay out how will you hold yourself accountable for staying on target and taking actions.

Build in checkpoints. Create points for you to check-in on your progress and results.

Review and Reassess. Take time to review what you are doing, have done, still need to do. Reassess where you are and what you want.

Course Correct. If you find you need to course correct, do it. The goal is for you to stay on a target that you want to stay on.

You Are Solely Responsible For Your Results.

In a previous blog, I told you that if you aren’t 100% happy with were you are in your life and in your business, your thoughts may be to blame. And while that is still true, it may be you haven’t had a target or you haven’t stayed on target and so you haven’t been responsible for your results.

This will help you not only be responsible for your results, but have you in the drivers seat so that you can have the power to change your circumstances in your life and in your business!

Get Your FREE Client Atraction Forumla now and know exactly where your clients are, what to do to get them to you so that you grow your business and make more money while doing amazing work and working with awesome clients!

Thank you for joining the Client Attraction Formula! Check your email for your Welcome and Next Steps message from me because that is going to have all of the information you need to get set up for your Client Attraction Formula.

Have you ever ended your day having done 100 things? And have you ever ended your day without doing the ONE thing that you knew you absolutely had to do?

You aren’t alone, and you probably know that. I’m not writing about anything you probably haven’t heard before.

There are so many articles on productivity and time management it’s crazy. Yet, here I am writing about it. And the reason why is because there is such a need for it.

Here where I live, in the United States, the culture is pretty much get as much done as you can and even more than you think you can physically do and you are a star.

So, we add and add and add to our ever growing to-do lists, calendars and schedules and we hope that we’ll be able to get it all done. When we don’t we are frustrated, unhappy and basically burnt out.

Is that anyway to live a life? Not at all!

The solution.

How then, can you end your day doing the ONE thing that you absolutely need to do in order to move your business forward?

Well, (now, hang on to yourself, because I know you are going to say, “that’s it?”) simple, set aside 15-30 minutes to plan out your day either the night before or first thing in the morning. Yes, that’s it.

It is the most simple thing you can do to end your day feeling amazing about yourself. Your productivity will improve and you will have more time which in turn helps you be a great time manager.

How to effectively use your daily planning time.

Below you will see the steps to follow during your daily planning time.

Set a timer. You only need about 15-30 minutes to plan your day.

Get out your calendar/planner, to-do list, any other support materials you use. This gives you an overview of what you want/need to get done.

Prioritize what is on your list. Do a rough outline of how long you think things will take.

Review your schedule, what appointments are already in there. This tells you where your time is already committed that cannot be filled with anything else.

Determine how much open space do you have. Look back at your to-do list and rough time-line and determine what you can actually get done in the time you have available.

Choose your top 1-3 things that you have to complete by the end of the day. I say have to, yet it can also be doing things you want to and that will feel good to accomplish.

Write down your priorities in a place you will see them during the day. This helps you stay focused and on target.

After you have completed the above, it’s time to get into action and started on your #1 top priority.

Next, all you need to do is do it. You already thought about it, planned it and now it’s time for you to succeed and end your day feeling productive and good about yourself!

Keep The End In Mind.

If this is a new action for you, keep in mind it takes time to create a habit.

Writing down your top three and placing it in a place where you see is paramount to your success. You use it as a touch point. It is your guide that will help you get to the end of the day feeling successful.

Each time you find yourself going off track (bright shiny objects anyone?!), this list will pull you back. This is your to-do list for the day and by thinking (or even saying) by the end of the day, I will have done this, this and this, the odds of you actually doing that are very high.

Kim Ravida works with solopreneurs and small businesses to help them create fun, stress-free and results-oriented plans for their business success. Kim’s clients have simple to follow plans of actions that have them seeing fast results in their business.

Get Your FREE Client Atraction Forumla now and know exactly where your clients are, what to do to get them to you so that you grow your business and make more money while doing amazing work and working with awesome clients!

Thank you for joining the Client Attraction Formula! Check your email for your Welcome and Next Steps message from me because that is going to have all of the information you need to get set up for your Client Attraction Formula.

Did you know that you are the one responsible for what you get in life?

You are. I’m not a big proponent of telling you things. I really like to share and have you test the waters to see if something is right for you, would work for you and help you in the way that you are wanting. So for me to say you are 100% responsible for your results goes against what I normally teach you.

Though I’m doing it because it’s something you need to hear. In order to live your life the way you want to you need to stop making excuses and assigning blame to anyone other than yourself.

Ways you can get what you want in your life.

So, it’s up to you. Now what?! My goal here is to share with you ways in which you can get what you want.

I’ve been doing some Facebook Live Videos and wanted to share two with you. My most recent is about a trick to stop procrastinating. You can watch it here. If you have ever found yourself not getting to what you truly want to do, this will help you get there.

And the second one is about leaving white space in your calendar for the unexpected. We all know stuff happens. Yet, we never plan for it and end up feeling frustrated because we didn’t get to do what we wanted or needed to because of it. Click here to watch.

Both of these videos will get you started on the path to getting what you want in your life. Repeat after me: “I will no longer just settle for what I get, I will be at the cause of it.”

In order to get what you want, you must be intentional and specific.

If you wake up and just start your day with whatever comes to you first, you will never find the time to do what it is you truly want. And you’ll end up settling. Your life is worth so much more.

Are you ready to stop behaviors that aren’t supporting you? I hope so!

Be intentional and specific about what you want your life, year, month, week, day to be like. Then go out and take the actions you need to in order to get there.

Your turn, what is one thing you want in life and what will you do in order to get it? I’d love to hear about either comment here or feel free to email me personally at kim@kimravida.com!

Get Your FREE Client Atraction Forumla now and know exactly where your clients are, what to do to get them to you so that you grow your business and make more money while doing amazing work and working with awesome clients!

Thank you for joining the Client Attraction Formula! Check your email for your Welcome and Next Steps message from me because that is going to have all of the information you need to get set up for your Client Attraction Formula.

Are you happy with where your life is? Are you doing what you want? Do you have what you want?

If you aren’t 100% happy with were you are in your life and in your business, your thoughts may be to blame.

I’ve been participating in T. Harv Eker’s 7 Day No Complaining Challenge. You can check it out on his Facebook page. One thing that is being taught is that our thoughts = our results.

Your thoughts equal your results

Harv is a master at mindset. And one thing I have learned is that I complain more INSIDE my head than I do outwardly.

I was a bit horrified at this knowledge, yet, it’s great to know. See, awareness is the first step to making a change. And since there were things I wanted to change in both my life and in my business, this was a great first step for me. I also (as of the writing of this blog) am in the middle of an experience that I’d rather not experience.

I’m not trying to be cryptic, I’m just not ready to share it with the world. I will, just not yet. So focusing on where my thoughts are has been key in helping me turn an experience that could potential stop me in my tracks into one where I can look for something more pleasing to me. And for me, that equals a better result.

What results do you want to have in your life?

What about you? Where or what in your life (and/or business) do you want to have better results? Go ahead and write them down. Then, take a moment to think about your thoughts.

When you look at what you are thinking about, are you positive about it or are you negative about it? If you notice you are more negative 1) this is great awareness and 2) now you can change how you think. This will help you move toward creating those results that you want faster.

Determine another way to think about it – how can I change this thought? This creates the new thought pattern.

Say OUT LOUD your new way of thinking about what is going on. This reinforces the new thought pattern.

Write it down. This creates an even stronger pathway from brain to body.

Repeat as often as necessary.

Once you get into this habit, you’ll soon notice your thoughts changing. They won’t be so negative and you’ll (here’s the beauty) start to notice you are thinking more positive more often than not!

Pretty cool, eh?!

Why it matters?

Well, it matters because your life and your happiness depends on YOU. It depends on your ability to make it exactly what you want it to be. You are the only person that is in control of your life and don’t you want it to be a great life? Don’t you want your life to be full of what you want? I bet you do!

You matter. You are unique and special and you have unique needs and wants and there is no reason for you to not have what you want!

I’d love to hear about what happens for you when you begin to think thoughts that help you get what you want. Either comment here or feel free to email me personally at kim@kimravida.com!

Get Your FREE Client Atraction Forumla now and know exactly where your clients are, what to do to get them to you so that you grow your business and make more money while doing amazing work and working with awesome clients!

Thank you for joining the Client Attraction Formula! Check your email for your Welcome and Next Steps message from me because that is going to have all of the information you need to get set up for your Client Attraction Formula.

Look, it’s easy to get yourself to do things you don’t want to do. Now, what if you just didn’t do it?

Really, what would happen? Let’s think about this.

Possibilities of what might happen

You could die. But that depends on what it is you are contemplating not doing. If you are trying to overcome a serious illness and don’t take your medication, that’s a distinct possibility.

However, there are things that if you didn’t do, you could succeed beyond your imagination. Or you could discover you have been forcing yourself to do things that really just don’t matter.

But, let’s say it has to do with something you want to do with your business. What if you didn’t do it? What really would happen?

Let’s do an exercise. Choose ONE thing you have been trying to get done, or something you force yourself to do regularly but don’t want to do. Now get a piece of paper out (or open a blank document) and list out what you think will happen if you don’t do it.

So, what did you learn?

You learned 1) you really do have to do it or 2) you really don’t have to do it.

What really matters?

If you found that you are forcing yourself because for whatever reason you thought you had to do it, you hit on a goldmine of information.

There are so many “reasons” why we do things in our lives and in our businesses. And until you absolutely, without a doubt know your why – you may just be doing things because…

Reasons for defining your why:

You have clarity

Clarity gives you direction

Direction increases motivation

Motivation equals results

And ultimately in business we want results. So what if you only did what you knew would bring those results? What if you didn’t do what didn’t? Where do you think you’d be?

What are some of the things you had been telling yourself you had to do only to find out you really didn’t need to do them? I’d love to hear from you!

Get Your FREE Client Atraction Forumla now and know exactly where your clients are, what to do to get them to you so that you grow your business and make more money while doing amazing work and working with awesome clients!

Thank you for joining the Client Attraction Formula! Check your email for your Welcome and Next Steps message from me because that is going to have all of the information you need to get set up for your Client Attraction Formula.

I always do what I say I’m going to do, do you? Although this may have been true, some of the time, it wasn’t true for all of the time.

BUT, I created a new strategy for myself. And now I actually do what I say I’m going to do.

A new strategy to help you get things done!

I’ve been writing a lot lately about time management. One, because so many of my clients struggle with it and two, there are so many options out there it’s hard to find the time to figure out which will work for you.

The new strategy that I want to share with you isn’t anything you haven’t heard before. In fact, nothing really regarding time management is. The strategy is taking a NO EXCUSES approach to doing what you say you are going to do.

Excuses will kill your productivity

For the purpose of this article, an excuse is a reason why you didn’t do what you said you wanted to or needed to get done.

It usually shows up when you say things like:

I don’t have enough time

But I needed to do this first

I was tired

I didn’t feel like it

Ya but….(fill in the blank)

At the same time, you might be thinking ya, but, I have a good reason for putting it off or not doing it. To that I say you may think you have a good reason, but it is still killing your productivity.

Stop making the excuses. Instead, think on the positive side of what will happen for you because you did what it was you were going to do (or even supposed to do).

Your turn, what are the excuses you are guilty of using? And then, when will you stop making them? Leave a comment if you so dare!

Get Your FREE Client Atraction Forumla now and know exactly where your clients are, what to do to get them to you so that you grow your business and make more money while doing amazing work and working with awesome clients!

Thank you for joining the Client Attraction Formula! Check your email for your Welcome and Next Steps message from me because that is going to have all of the information you need to get set up for your Client Attraction Formula.

Do you follow a schedule? Do you get things done? Or do you wonder what happened to your time and why you always seem to not have enough?

I could go into telling you that we all have the same amount of time in a day, but you’ve heard that before and I’d like to tell you something new (or at least a new spin on it).

There IS a better way to finally getting things done.

The better way is to schedule it. And I’m not talking about scheduling your appointments with other people. More than likely you already do that (or at least that’s my hope) so that isn’t a problem.

What I’m talking about it to schedule your tasks and activities. To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, here are a few examples:

Planning time

Writing your blog

Specific times you set aside for phone calls and follow up

Social Media Marketing (and let’s not confuse this with socializing)

Moreover, knowing what you are doing and how long it takes you makes is simple to put it into your calendar. And to that end, get it done. I wrote about this in a previous blog, which you can click here to read if you don’t know what you are doing and how long it takes. As long as you already know what you are doing, you can then schedule it and get it done!

Trick to getting things done.

Because I’ve had many trials and errors when it’s come to time and getting things done, one trick that I have learned is to use the time blocking method. It’s blocking off the time that I know I have to work with and scheduling in my tasks and activities into that time.

Here’s what it looks like:

Look at your day (the night before is preferable) and get clear on how much time you have to work with. Since you already know what you are doing and how long it will take you, you can schedule appropriately.

Enter that task/activity into the time you have for it. Example: Writing a blog takes 1 hour, enter ‘write blog’ into the appropriate time slot on your calendar.

When that time comes, you know what you’ll be doing so you go and do it.

Where most people go wrong is that they have a laundry list of things they want to do, are going to do or even need to do and they never seem to get them done. Whenever we fail to schedule, we fail. Plain and simple. I know this because a) it’s happened to me and b) my clients were doing this before starting to work with me and once they created their time management system they got things done – even those that they had had trouble doing.

Your Next Step – Take Action.

Give it a try and see what happens, my guess is that when you put what you need to do in your schedule and follow it, you’ll be getting many things done, feeling pretty great about yourself and reaching your goals!

Get Your FREE Client Atraction Forumla now and know exactly where your clients are, what to do to get them to you so that you grow your business and make more money while doing amazing work and working with awesome clients!

Thank you for joining the Client Attraction Formula! Check your email for your Welcome and Next Steps message from me because that is going to have all of the information you need to get set up for your Client Attraction Formula.

Be a Client Attractor NOW!

Get Your FREE Client Attraction Formula now and learn how to easily get more clients!

Thank you for joining the Client Attraction Formula! Check your email for your Welcome and Next Steps message from me because that is going to have all of the information you need to get set up for your Client Attraction Formula.